Israel vs South Africa

South Africa is 58.8 times larger than Israel. Israel would fit into South Africa about 59 times.

IsraelSouth AfricaIsrael moved onto South Africa · Equal-area projection
0.02×
Israel is 0.02× the area of South Africa. Put the other way, South Africa is 58.8× the size of Israel.
IsraelSouth Africa
Area20,770 km²1,221,037 km²
Population10,122,80064,747,319
Density487 / km²53 / km²
CapitalJerusalemPretoria
RegionWestern AsiaSouthern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastHas a coast
Neighbours56

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Israel sits at about 31°N and is stretched to 1.37× its true area; South Africa at 29° S is stretched to 1.31×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Israel bigger than South Africa?
No. Israel is 58.8 times smaller than South Africa. Israel covers 20,770 km² and South Africa covers 1,221,037 km².
How many times does Israel fit into South Africa?
About 59 times: South Africa has 58.8× the area of Israel.
Why do Israel and South Africa look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Israel is drawn about 1.37× its true area there and South Africa about 1.31×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Israel or South Africa?
South Africa: 64,747,319 people against 10,122,800. Density: Israel 487 per km², South Africa 53 per km².